Agro-ecology is the common sense approach to food security “There is no agricultural challenge that we can’t solve with an agro‐ecological approach.” “The industrial mindset is the underlying psychological state that drives the development of technologies...

And so, if my wife was to ask me what I had been doing all morning, I could truthfully have said that I had been “busy harnessing ecosystem services and investing sweat equity”, and she would have probably thought that I had become a little bit madder than I already am.

Jeremy Cherfas's insight:

Lovely, thoughtful piece, an excellent antidote to all the guff blowing around the International Year of Family farming.

Hunger and undernutrition are amongst the most persistent global development challenges. Part of Millennium Development Goal 1 is to ‘Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger’ (UN, 2012).

I have just got an e-mail, which I am sharing: "It’s been a very dynamic quarter for Plantwise activities around the world. As you may recall, this is a global programme to improve food security and rural livelihoods by reducing crop losses.

I am pleased to attach this link to the latest Plantwise Newsletter.

In this edition:

· Ghana launches Plantwise with workshop in Accra

· European Commission pledges support to Plantwise for African food security

In this in-depth interview, the FCRN’s Marie Persson has invited 3 experts, Roger Leakey, André Gonçalves and Ben Phalan to discuss the role, benefits and challenges with agroforestry. They provide insights and critical recommendations based on experiences analysing and implementing such systems in Brazil, South East Asia and many African countries. Special attention is paid to agroforestry as a possible pathway towards closing the yield gap and creating sustainable intensification.

I'm deeoply skeptical of the numbers in the first paragraph, which suggest that the average grocery bill for a family of four is just $5000. A quick search reveals most numbers are higher than that, and they are from a while ago.

SCIENTISTS at the Food and Drug Administration systematically monitor the meat and poultry sold in supermarkets around the country for the presence of disease-causing bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. These food products are bellwethers that tell us how bad the crisis of antibiotic resistance is getting. And they’re telling us it’s getting worse.

But this is only part of the story. While the F.D.A. can see what kinds of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are coming out of livestock facilities, the agency doesn’t know enough about the antibiotics that are being fed to these animals. This is a major public health problem, because giving healthy livestock these drugs breeds superbugs that can infect people. We need to know more about the use of antibiotics in the production of our meat and poultry. The results could be a matter of life and death.

Food Safety News Two Major Farm Groups Take Opposite Tack on Raw Milk Food Safety News Mark McAfee, co-owner of Fresno-based Organic Pastures, the largest raw milk producer in the United States, told Food Safety News that there was no reference to...

Growth in national income is a poor predictor of welfare The Economist IF YOU look at countries' social and economic progress since 1990, you will find that, in most cases, it is in line with their historic performance—with some important exceptions.

It’s no secret that traditional crops such as millets and pulses are highly nutritious. Now researchers, working with women in Ethiopia and India are making it easier for them to use these local crops when cooking healthy meals at home and creating new business ventures.

Food Aid as Industrial Policy Cato Institute (blog) In practice, after becoming a government program, the idea of giving food to poor people has been turned into an industrial policy tool.

Jeremy Cherfas's insight:

absolutely nothing unexpected here. The big win will be if the change in US aid policy actually has some impact on the ground, stimulating local producers and markets. And will there be any effort to stimulate nutrition rather than just calories?

absolutely nothing unexpected here. The big win will be if the change in US aid policy actually has some impact on the ground, stimulating local producers and markets. And will there be any effort to stimulate nutrition rather than just calories?

Jeremy Cherfas's insight: absolutely nothing unexpected here. The big win will be if the change in US aid policy actually has some impact on the ground, stimulating local producers and markets. And will there be any effort to stimulate nutrition rather than just calories?

UN News Centre UNICEF report on nutrition shows progress in combating childhood stunting UN News Centre 15 April 2013 – A United Nations nutrition report released today shows that progress has been made in recent years in addressing stunting in...

Agro-ecology is the common sense approach to food security “There is no agricultural challenge that we can’t solve with an agro‐ecological approach.” “The industrial mindset is the underlying psychological state that drives the development of technologies...

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